Mayme Corsage Cowl…a free knitting pattern! January 15, 2014

Hello, dear friends! A special shout out to those dear knitting friends who live in the frigid tundra region of these United States, as I have something to share here that might be something cheery you can use.

After what seems like forever–at least to me, anyway–I’ve managed to work the cowl I submitted to Uncommon Goods for their consideration into a FREE pdf pattern for you guys. I originally named it the “Jaunty Corsage Cowl,” however, a recent news story about a homeowner renovating her 1910 home and the postcards to “Mayme” that were found secreted behind some kitchen baseboards caught my eye. Seems like Mayme might’ve had a little romance on the side, since the name of the sender didn’t match her husband’s name in the town records. Hmm.

At any rate, I could not resist a name that sounded exactly like a lady who’d sport a lovely striped cowl with a happy flower corsage when the weather turned frightful. So the Mayme Corsage Cowl was born.

The pattern includes both the knitting instructions, as well as how to create the felt flower corsage pin. So without further ado, here it is…just click on the link just below.

mayme corsage cowl3

As I wrote out the pattern, I started thinking how pretty this cowl would also be made from two shades of a natural color yarn, like an oatmeal and a tweedy brown, or two shades of handspun, either fastened with a lovely heirloom brooch instead of the felted flower corsage.

Oh the ideas are bubbling away…

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this pattern!

You can finish this in a weekend!

 

Love Haight January 4, 2014

People I don’t know, enjoying themselves

I don’t know what it is about San Francisco. I must be getting to be a really really really old fart, because I just don’t get why so many people  in San Francisco are, in my opinion, so freakin’ crazy looking/acting. Bug tells me it’s because people are just expressing themselves, but I maintain, how much of an individual can you be if everyone around you is covered in tatts, piercings, and wearing their hair like the punks in the 80s? Whatever. I digress, and I haven’t even started to blab. Sorry.

So last weekend, Captain Romance and I were out and about doing errands when we got this wild idea to just drive to the city. And honestly, we don’t go to the city often because everything about it is challenging: the crazy hills and one way streets, the parking, finding a good place to eat, and the overwhelming number of panhandling homeless (who evoke in me this weird combination of extreme sadness and outrage). To be fair, we don’t go often enough to really get a lay of the land there, and if time allowed us the opportunity, I suppose we would. There are a few places in the city we really love to go, like the Ferry Building, and authentic dim sum places in Chinatown, but not that many.

However, recently CR and an old pal of his visiting from out-of-town went down to the Haight to check out one of the microbrew gastropubs there…Magnolia SF. And as luck would have it, CR remembered how to find it. Low and behold, there it was, right on the corner of Haight and Masonic. And luckier us, we found a parking spot a reasonable 7 blocks or so away.

More folks I don’t know, having a great time…

Wow, what fun! And what delicious pub grub. I had this insanely delish Open Face Mushroom Melt, and CR had a fab Linguisa sausage on a bed of huge white beans. Oh yes, and we got a flight of beers to share, since we couldn’t decide which ones to order.

It was a great meal, and afterwards we walked up and down Haight, which was a flurry of activity, checking out the shops (shoe mecca there, girls! Especially Fluevog!). Oh, and we even ran across that shop that was featured on A&E Discovery, “Loved to Death,” which was full of weird little oddities and taxidermy.

Okay, so after a chilly afternoon of food and exploration, I must admit I found another bit of SF to love.